


Winged Love: Amends With The Past

by Kamahontas



Series: Winged Love [2]
Category: Memphis Belle (1990)
Genre: 1940s, Affection, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Cute, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gay, Gay Couple, Gay Male Character, Gay Marriage, Gay Pride, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Sex, Kissing, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Memphis Belle - Freeform, Men Crying, Other, Sweet, World War II, pride month 2020, pridemonth2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24611131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamahontas/pseuds/Kamahontas
Summary: A part of a series of stories following my main one, Winged Love. This time Danny and Eugene are finally able to tell each other how they feel about their experiences from the war, and finally find comfort.
Relationships: Danny Daly/Eugene McVey
Series: Winged Love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779322
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2
Collections: Pride Month 2020





	Winged Love: Amends With The Past

A year. A year had passed since Danny and Eugene completed their last mission with Memphis Belle. So much had happened since then. They became a couple, Eugene got divorced and on top of that their family prepared a special ceremony for them, so they could get informally married. Life was good, and their family gave them their support every day. Danny and Eugene had a happy life on the farm and it seemed that nothing could ever destroy their happiness. Danny smiled at this thought and looked at his husband still sound asleep. It was wonderful to watch him rest.

“Good morning, Danny Boy,” he suddenly heard Eugene’s voice. “How are you?”

“Good morning, Genie,” he replied with a happy smile and kissed his husband lovingly. “I’m great, like every morning when we’re so close,” he giggled and rolled on top of Eugene. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“How about we start the day as we finished yesterday?” Eugene chuckled and kissed Danny lovingly, pulling him even closer.

They spent hours before they finally got up and started getting dressed, but they were happy. They were happy to have the morning filled with love and passion before they would begin in their daily routine. Their feelings were growing stronger with every day, and they couldn’t be any happier. Their life was beyond perfect. They were madly in love with each other, and their family were incredibly supportive. With time Eugene grew to be comfortable enough to address Danny’s parents as Mom and Dad too, and this only made their bond stronger. Last year was filled with milestones and all kinds of emotions. They didn’t regret a single bit. Even the hardest moments brought something positive in the end, and now a year since they completed their last mission, they were happily living together, surrounded by people who loved them unconditionally.

When they entered the kitchen, they were greeted by Danny’s youngest sister, Mary.

“Good morning, love birds!” She chuckled happily. “I was just about to go to your room to bring you breakfast, but if you’re up already, I guess you’d like to enjoy your meal on the porch?” She grinned, removing seemingly the last portion of bacon from the frying pan, and placed it on a big plate with what was already a big amount of the side dish. “You go and sit, I’ll bring you coffee and then your food. I still gotta make your favorite pancakes.”

“What’s the occasion?” Danny asked with a big smile. Mary was constantly surprising him.

“Why, the anniversary of your last mission, of course, you bonehead!” She laughed and hugged her brother, and then Eugene. “I can’t believe it was a year ago! Our two heroes!” She then chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Well, okay, three. Memphis Belle is our family too, as odd as it may sound. You gotta take me to wherever she is now, I wanna see her! Your pictures are amazing, but I bet Belle is even more beautiful in reality.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Eugene chuckled and ruffled Mary’s hair. He often did that, it was his way of showing his sister, as he called her, affection. “I wouldn’t mind paying her a visit too.”

“Me neither! We’ll find a way,” Danny smiled brightly and started preparing coffee. When it was ready, he poured it into three cups. “And now, come on, I’m starving!”

“Good, go to the porch and I’ll join you. Mom and Dad should be done with their morning chores soon, so we’ll all sit and enjoy the beautiful weather,” Mary almost pushed Danny and Eugene outside, which, of course, caused lots of laughter.

“So, who do you think we should contact to find out what happened to our trustworthy Belle?” Danny asked as he sat on his usual place at the table.

“I’d say Dennis, but you never know with this dude,” Eugene replied with a smile as he sat next to his husband. “Do you have addresses of everyone from our crew? I remember you were noting some down.”

“I only don’t know where Val lives, I bet he moved out from his town to go back to college. I don’t know which one though.”

“Well, we’ll have to write to everyone, and ask.”

“Good idea,” Danny got excited. We’ll start tonight, okay? So, if we’re lucky we can send the letters tomorrow afternoon.”

“What scam are you planning?” The couple joined Conor.

“Hey, Dad,” Danny smiled brightly. “We’re gonna find out where our flying friend is right now. We wanna pay her a visit. Mary wants to go with us.”

“That’s a brilliant idea! I’ll cross my fingers for you,” He added and just then Mary came outside carrying a big tray filled with food. Soon Cara joined them too, and the whole family sat to enjoy their meal. They talked and laughed for hours, happy to spend time together. The morning soon turned into afternoon and everyone went back to their chores, all apart from Danny and Eugene. It was their holiday, and they had the day for themselves. Later Mary joined them and begged them to tell her more about their last mission. She seemed to be even more curious than a year ago, which made Danny smile. He figured it would be because now they were safe and sound at home. For them, the war ended twelve months ago, and they finally could talk about their share of the fight without anxiety. It took them months to get over everything that happened during their service, but now it belonged to the past and they were focused on the present and the future.

“I don’t remember that much,” Danny chuckled sadly. “You know, when you’re a radio operator, all you really focus on is the flight register and staying alert in case someone calls me on the radio. But I will always remember when Windy City caught fire, or when Mother and Country got cut in two by a German plane. They were heartbreaking moments. Even now, I sometimes hear the cry of the rookies from Mother and Country…,” he continued with a shaking voice. Even a year later these memories were as vivid as back then. “You hear the panic, fear, and helplessness, their prayers, and one of the boys crying for his mother… After that, when the plane fell even lower, there’s this high-pitched sound of the broken radio link. And just like that ten men were gone. The last thing I saw was Mother and Country disappearing into the clouds… Only the night before I was talking with their radioman, he was scared before his first mission. He was sick as a dog, so I talked to him, telling him he’s gonna be okay. I gave him an amulet, but… it didn’t work,” he sighed heavily as tears rolled down his face. “That’s what I will remember most for the last mission. Shit! He was only a kid! He could be eighteen, maybe nineteen!” He broke down. It was too much for him to take. He felt Eugene’s strong arms around him and nuzzled his face in the crook of his husband’s neck.

“It’s alright, Danny Boy,” Eugene whispered tenderly, kissing the top of Danny’s head. “The war is over for us.”

“I know,” Danny sniffled. “It’s just… when I realize that it could be any of us in their place… I’m sorry, I know you’re right. We can’t do anything about what happened. Hard as it may be, we have to live with these memories and just focus on what’s before us,” he sighed and kissed Eugene tenderly.

“Now, that's my husband!” Eugene chuckled and held Danny tight.

They looked at Mary, and she had shining eyes too, so they didn’t continue the topic, deciding it’s still too early to talk about it without completely breaking down. Eugene soon found a better thing that could be discussed, and the three of them started to plan their search for any information where Memphis Belle could be at the moment. Noting down all the details took them hours, and they finished only when the day turned into the evening. That’s when Danny and Eugene decided to go for a walk in the fields. They were already on the porch when Danny remembered he wanted to take his camera to take some pictures, so he ran back inside. He rolled his eyes seeing that the film in his camera had only one cell left. He took a random picture and then quickly put in a new scroll and went back to his husband. As he stood on the porch he saw Eugene standing on their driveway, smoking a cigarette. Something must be bothering him, Danny thought. It wasn’t often when Eugene smoked. He walked to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Is everything okay?” Danny asked softly.

“Yeah, it’s just… It’s just…,” Eugene seemed to be unable to find proper words. He threw away the fag and took a deep breath. “I just remembered when you got wounded… Damn! It was the worst thing that ever happened!” He said with shining eyes.

“All I remember is some kind of explosion and fire… I know I woke up and heard someone saying we’re almost home… And then the landing. That’s pretty much it. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, and you were there, holding my hand,” Danny said thoughtfully. “I actually never asked. What happened there? I mean… I reached out for my camera, and then I passed out.”

“The Gerries. They shot and their bullets hit the plane, causing a huge explosion. At first I was just focusing on the guns, but then I saw you. You laid there unconscious with this huge wound,” Eugene’s voice started to break. But he continued and told his husband what happened and how scared he was. About how Val had tried to help, and how it had all seemed so hopeless, and how he had finally stopped, telling his comrades that Danny’s only chance would be to throw him out of the plane with a parachute. How they protested, aware that Danny wouldn’t be able to open it, and how it was suggested to open the chute for him.

“The worst was when the bomb compartment was opened, and he held you there, ready to let you fall. I didn’t want to do this, but I couldn’t oppose it. I was holding your head… I wanted to jump with you,” he cried and put his arms around Danny’s shoulders, holding him tight, burying his face in his husband’s collar-bone. “I was holding your head…,” he cried, unable to control his sobbing anymore.

Danny listened to Eugene and his heart sank. Eugene must have loved him more than anything… He held Genie tightly, softly rubbing his back, while he cried on his shoulder. Danny felt tears in his eyes too. He couldn’t help it; whenever Eugene was happy, he was too. When Eugene was in pain, he felt his pain; at times when his husband was crying, he was crying along. Their bond was so strong that they felt each other’s emotions, and they were becoming their own.

“It’s okay, Genie,” he sniffled. “It’s alright now, I’m here, with you. And I’m okay. It belongs to the past. Now we are both safe and sound, and nothing could ever change that,” Danny whispered softly, holding Eugene tighter.

“Phil saved you, he talked Val out of this horrible idea. We laid you on the ‘chute and watched you all the time. I then heard one of the wheels didn’t drop down, I thought we were doomed. I prayed, but not for safe landing… I was praying for you to live!” 

At this point, Danny felt Eugene started to shake like a leaf. It surely was more than he could take. He has never seen his husband so devastated, not even when his parents rejected him.

“It’s okay, honey, it’s okay,” Danny whispered, still rubbing Eugene’s back, he tenderly ran his fingers through his foxy hair. “Everything is okay now. You told me today that the war is over for us, and you were right. We are home, together. A year ago we started our life, and it will last for decades, okay? Genie, I’m here and we’re married. Nothing can ever break us apart.”

“I know…,” Eugene was slowly calming down. “But… whenever I see your scar, I’m scared it’s still painful…,” he admitted frankly.

This made Danny realize something. Whenever they were close, Genie was indeed avoiding touching the scar on the side of Danny’s stomach. So, he was this afraid? He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“Here,” he said softly, and as he rolled up his shirt a little, he led his husband’s hand to his scar. “See? Nothing happens, it’s just a scar, no more pain, no more bleeding. Nothing but a spot reminding about our last mission. You don’t need to be scared. What soldier would I be if I would go through my service without a scratch? Hey, remember our second mission and when you twisted your ankle while getting off our Belle? You spent days with your leg in this thick plaster and we all laughed.”

“You even drew a funny picture of me falling down,” at last Eugene laughed. “I still have it!”

“See? We both had some injuries, but we recovered from them. Everything is alright now, okay?”

“Okay,” Eugene smiled and looked into Danny’s blue eyes. “You promise everything is alright?”

“Pinky promise,” Danny replied with a big smile, sticking out his finger. Eugene smiled and wrapped his smallest finger around Danny’s. For a moment they were silent, but then they held each other’s hand and walked to the fields. Danny was taking pictures, then Eugene tried too, and they had fun. When the sun was nearing the horizon, Danny remembered something he had for his husband. A few days earlier, when they went to town for some farming supplies, he saw a silver chain. Almost identical to the one Eugene wore with his St. Anthony medal. The old one was constantly breaking, and many mornings began with searching for the pendant, so Danny bought the new one, and now it was in his pocket. When they stood on the top of the hill to watch the sunset, he reached for it and smiled.

“Close your eyes, Genie,” he said with a smile, and when his husband followed his request, he put the chain into Eugene’s hand. 

That morning they couldn’t find the medal, but Eugene didn’t panic this time since they were planning on staying home all day long, so it seemed to be okay with him. Danny found the pendant later on during the day when he was making the bed. He used the chance and added the second chain to the necklace, so now it had two chains. One supporting the other.

“You can now open them now,” Danny smiled and waited for his husband to see his beloved necklace.

“You found it!” Eugene smiled brightly and then noticed the second string. “You…”

“Yes, I thought you needed another chain because your old one keeps breaking, and you lose this medal almost every morning. It’s fine when we search for it, but I know how much anxiety it causes you, so now you don’t have to worry anymore. The chances are like one to a few hundred that they both break at the same time,” he chuckled playfully.

“Thank you!” Genie smiled brightly and immediately put the necklace on, and held Danny tight. “I will never be able to find words to tell you how much I appreciate everything you’re doing for me. I love you, Danny Boy.”

“I love you too, Genie. More than I can ever tell,” he replied and softly brushed his lips against Eugene’s.

Their tender kiss lasted for a long time, they didn’t intend to pull away anytime soon. They needed their moment of tenderness to ease their emotions and put all their tough experiences in the past, letting the future be filled with hope and happiness. They finally made amends with the past and the war. 


End file.
